What is "diagonalization"

n. (alternative spelling of diagonalisation from=US English)

n. changing a square matrix to diagonal form (with all non-zero elements on the principal diagonal); "the diagonalization of a normal matrix by a unitary transformation" [syn: diagonalisation]

In mathematics, diagonalization may refer to:

• Matrix diagonalization, a construction of a diagonal matrix (with nonzero entries only on the main diagonal) that is similar to a given matrix
• Diagonal lemma, used to create self-referential sentences in formal logic
• Diagonal argument (disambiguation), various
• Cantor's diagonal argument, used to prove that the set of real numbers is not countable
• Table diagonalization, a form of data reduction used to make interpretation of tables and charts easier.